By Parisa Hafezi and Elwely Elwelly
DUBAI, March 12 (Reuters) – Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected holding negotiations with the United States over a nuclear deal, as a letter was delivered from U.S. President Donald Trump calling for such talks.
Last week, Trump said he had sent the letter to Khamenei proposing nuclear talks, but also warned that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal”.
The letter was handed over to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Wednesday by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates.
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While Araqchi and Gargash were meeting, Khamenei told a group of university students that Trump’s offer for talks was “a deception”, state media reported.
“When we know they won’t honour it, what’s the point of negotiating? Therefore, the invitation to negotiate … is a deception of public opinion,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by state media. Khamenei said he had not yet seen the letter.
Khamenei said negotiating with the Trump administration, which he said had excessive demands, “will tighten the knot of sanctions and increase pressure on Iran“.
In 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran‘s economy. Tehran reacted a year later by violating the deal’s nuclear curbs.
Khamenei, who has the final word in Iranian state matters, said last week that Tehran would not be bullied into talks under threats.
While leaving the door open for a nuclear pact with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the “maximum pressure” campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports towards zero.
The UAE, one of Washington’s key Middle East security partners and host to U.S. troops, also maintains warm ties with Tehran. Despite past tensions, business and trade links between the two countries have remained strong, and Dubai has served as a key commercial hub for Iran for more than a century.
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Iran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon.
“If we wanted to build nuclear weapons, the U.S. would not be able to stop it. We ourselves do not want it,” Khamenei said.
However, Iran‘s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, has jumped, the International Atomic Energy Agency said late last month.
Iran‘s arch-foe Israel has threatened to attack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to contain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel and the United States were determined to thwart Iran‘s nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East.
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Khamenei warned on Wednesday against any military strike on Iran.
“Iran is not seeking war, but if the Americans or their agents take a wrong step, our response will be decisive and certain, and the one who will suffer the most harm is America,” he said.
While Tehran has vowed to retaliate against any military aggression, some Western diplomats argue that the country would face significant challenges.
Last year, Israel struck Iranian facilities including missile factories and air defences in retaliation for Iranian missile and drone attacks.
That reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, according to analysts and U.S. officials, an assessment disputed by Tehran.
(Additional reporting by Elwely Elwelly; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Aidan Lewis and Hugh Lawson)
